A thousand words

Issue: BCMJ, vol. 52, No. 5, June 2010, Page 270 College Library
By: Karen MacDonell, PhD, MLIS Robert Melrose Judy Neill

The adage a picture is worth a thousand words was originally coined by an advertising executive to describe the superiority of graphics over text in product promotion. The truth of the phrase applies equally to education when learning a new procedure.

The adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” was originally coined by an advertising executive to describe the superiority of graphics over text in product promotion. The truth of the phrase applies equally to education when learning a new procedure. 

For physicians needing to update their skills in emergency and anesthesia techniques, the College Library is pleased to announce that Procedures Consult is now available through www.cpsbc.ca. This multimedia resource includes streaming video, quick and extended review, pre- and post-procedure instruction, and testing with remediation functionality. 

Emergency subjects range widely, including basic airway management, splinting techniques, and even tick removal. The anesthesia module includes nerve blocks, airway masks, lumbar epidural placement, and 30 more techniques. To access this new resource, log in to the College web site (www.cpsbc.ca), click on “Library,” and scroll down to the link to Procedures Consult.

If surgical procedures are of interest, the surgical video collection from Northwestern University is newly available on the library’s web site. These streaming videos include narrated instruction and comprise 28 procedures in colorectal, endocrine, general surgery, and surgical oncology. 

To view the collection, log in to the College web site, click on “Library,” scroll down to “Audiovisual and PDA,” then select “Northwestern University Surgical Video Collection.” 

College members have been able to borrow videos and DVDs produced by the Network for Continuing Medical Education (NCME) for many years. Access has now expanded to include streaming video online from the NCME site. Some 30 programs may be viewed on subjects including the febrile child, hospice care, medical records, and avian influenza. 

Directions for accessing NCME resources may be found under the “Audiovisual and PDA” section of the College web site. Individual user names and passwords are required, but free access is granted through the College Library’s subscription.

The superiority of images, especially those in real time, over text descriptions in medical education has been well established. A picture is indeed worth a thousand words. The addition of Procedures Consult, the surgical video collection, and online NCME programs also supports the first principle of another old axiom: see one, do one, teach one.
—Karen MacDonell
—Robert Melrose
—Judy Neill
College Librarians

Karen MacDonell, PhD, MLIS, Robert Melrose, Judy Neill. A thousand words. BCMJ, Vol. 52, No. 5, June, 2010, Page(s) 270 - College Library.


Above is the information needed to cite this article in your paper or presentation. The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommends the following citation style, which is the now nearly universally accepted citation style for scientific papers:
Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL, Marion DW, Palmer AM, Schiding JK, et al. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002;347:284-7.

About the ICMJE and citation styles

The ICMJE is small group of editors of general medical journals who first met informally in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1978 to establish guidelines for the format of manuscripts submitted to their journals. The group became known as the Vancouver Group. Its requirements for manuscripts, including formats for bibliographic references developed by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), were first published in 1979. The Vancouver Group expanded and evolved into the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), which meets annually. The ICMJE created the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals to help authors and editors create and distribute accurate, clear, easily accessible reports of biomedical studies.

An alternate version of ICMJE style is to additionally list the month an issue number, but since most journals use continuous pagination, the shorter form provides sufficient information to locate the reference. The NLM now lists all authors.

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